"Sex Offender Running Women-Only Accommodation?"... Should Employment Restrictions for Sex Offenders Be Expanded?

Growing Calls to Expand 'Employment Restrictions for Sex Offenders' to Lodging and Convenience Stores
Current System Limited to Child and Youth Facilities, Medical Institutions, Counseling Centers
Concerns Raised About Threats to Freedom of Occupation and Livelihood
Experts Say "Agree on Necessity, but Fundamental Treatment to Prevent Recidivism Is More Important"

A man with a prior record of sex crimes was found to be managing a women-only lodging facility, prompting calls to expand the list of industries where sex offenders are prohibited from employment. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Pixabay [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Should a person who has committed a sex crime in the past be allowed to operate a women-only lodging facility?

There is a growing call to expand the current employment restriction system for sex offenders, established to protect children and adolescents, to include women-only spaces and convenience stores?businesses frequently used by children and adolescents. However, there are also concerns that this should not excessively restrict the fundamental right to choose one’s occupation.

Recent media reports revealed that a man, Mr. A, who was sentenced to prison for a past 'School Me Too' incident, has been operating a women-only guesthouse in Jeju since last year. Mr. A, who sexually harassed his students at the high school where he was employed, was sentenced by the court to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation. Additionally, he was ordered to attend 40 hours of sexual violence treatment lectures and was banned from employment at child and adolescent-related institutions for 3 years.

Although the 3-year employment restriction imposed on Mr. A last year is still valid as of the 8th, lodging businesses are not included in the list of restricted industries for sex offenders. It is known that Mr. A has been operating an unregistered lodging facility without reporting it, but even if he had reported it, he would effectively be able to manage the lodging business. Since the 2019 amendment to related laws, local government heads can order the closure and suspension of rural lodging facilities operated by sex offenders, but this only prohibits the lodging business for 2 years, making it practically impossible to completely prevent operation. Therefore, there are calls to expand the employment restriction industries, currently limited to child and adolescent-related institutions and medical institutions, to include lodging businesses, especially women-only spaces.

In fact, sexual violence incidents targeting women at lodging facilities continue to occur. A hotel employee who used a master key to sexually assault a sleeping guest and illegally filmed the act was sentenced to 4 years in prison last November. In addition, in June last year, a man in his 30s was sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting and repeatedly molesting a part-time worker at his women-only guesthouse.

Previously, controversy also arose over sex offenders working in businesses closely connected to daily life. In March, a man in his 60s who was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting an elementary school student who came to buy Pok?mon bread at a convenience store in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, was found to have been wearing an electronic monitoring device (electronic anklet) due to past sex crime convictions. Convenience stores have many points of contact with people in daily life and are frequently used by children and adolescents, but they are not included in the list of restricted industries for sex offenders.

Industries that provide services by visiting homes, such as errand services, are also not subject to employment restrictions. Kang Yoon-sung, who cut off his electronic anklet and murdered two women last year, was a 14-time offender but worked as a cosmetics door-to-door sales representative after his release. Cosmetics door-to-door sales are also not included in the current list of restricted industries. According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family website, employment restrictions apply to child and adolescent-related institutions, educational facilities, medical institutions, cultural facilities, and security services. Additionally, industries frequently used by children and adolescents, such as sports facilities, PC rooms, arcades, and youth karaoke rooms, are also restricted for sex offenders.

Along with the lodging industry, there are calls to restrict the employment of sex offenders in daily life service sectors with high usage rates by children and adolescents. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Pixabay [Image source=Pixabay]

However, there are opinions that excessive employment restrictions on sex offenders infringe on fundamental rights such as the right to work. This system is a form of sanction against sex offenders and is designed to prevent recidivism, but the degree of restriction on fundamental rights such as freedom of occupation should be limited to the minimum necessary. The Constitutional Court has previously ruled that Article 44, Paragraph 1 of the Juvenile Protection Act, which restricts employment of sex offenders, is unconstitutional for infringing on the freedom to choose one’s occupation. In July 2016, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the system that prohibited adults who committed sex crimes against other adults from working in medical institutions for 10 years.

Regarding this, Seung Jae-hyun, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice Policy, agrees on the necessity of the employment restriction system for sex offenders but warns against indiscriminate expansion of restricted industries. He said, "If the restricted industries are expanded excessively, various side effects may occur, such as the occurrence of other serious crimes due to threats to livelihood. Rather than expanding employment restrictions, fundamental treatment and care are more important. More proactive treatment programs that can reduce the likelihood of recidivism after release should be established," he emphasized.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.